1) Free Markets don't need no regulations
As
a Free Market capitalist, the story that has unfolded around JR
Pub's sign about not wanting to admit Africans into their
establishment out of fear of transmitting the Ebola virus carries all
the attributes of the Free Market that I love.
Despite
the fact that Korea (thankfully) does
not have an anti-discrimination law, when it was shown that a
business owner behaved in a racist manner (whether or not this was
actually racist will be discussed later), the public – whether they
were actual or potential customers – decided to punish the business
owners by doing the only thing that they could do, which is also the
most powerful thing that they could do. They chose to spend their
money elsewhere. Then the owners of JR Pub took immediate
steps to resolve the issue to placate the angry public.
There
was no need for an army of bureaucrats or business regulations or
legal statutes. It is a great example of the way Free Markets work;
or at least the way it ought to work.
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2) So an Ebola patient walks into a bar...
A
lot of noise was made about the ignorance that surrounded JR Pub's
decision to turn away Africans from their establishment out of fear
of the Ebola virus. Some people also correctly claimed that Ebola is
spread through the contact of bodily fluids, and is not, in fact,
spread through the air or through food.
However,
in a hypothetical example, assuming you were minding your own
business while enjoying a drink in a bar, if someone whom you
recognized as suffering from Ebola walked into the bar, would you
still stay in the bar knowing how the virus spreads? Or would you at
the very least step outside the building to call the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention?
You
don't have to tell me what you will do. But honestly ask yourself
what you would do in the situation. Personally, even if I knew for a
fact that there was no chance for me to contract the disease merely
because of the presence of a patient near my vicinity, I would leave
posthaste. But that's because I have seen first hand the ugliness
and brutality that a crowd is capable of committing, especially after
a few too many drinks have been imbibed.
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3) “Sincere” Apologies
According
to The
Korea Observer, the owner who instructed his staff to put up the
sign took sole blame and apologized. He also said that he would give
a 50 percent discount on all drinks and food to those coming to the
bar on one particular evening and that all proceeds of the night
would “go to a charity and those who are in need of help.”
(I
have yet to hear anyone explain to me why giving to charity would
make things under this present set of circumstances any better, but
whatever floats their boat, I suppose.)
However,
though this is certainly not a scientific survey by any stretch of
the imagination, there was a simple poll that the website's readers
could participate in. When asked “Should we boycott the bar over
the ban on 'Africans,'” readers could choose between “Yes, screw
that apology!” and “No, the apology is enough.”
As
of this writing, 780 people were in favor of boycotting the bar and
660 people were in favor of not boycotting the establishment.
Though
it is unclear if those who think that the apology is insufficient
would have any lasting effect on the business' profit margins, I
cannot help but wonder just how much more apologizing they could
possibly want.
A
part of me is reminded of the way so many Koreans demand a “sincere”
apology from Japan over its war crimes. No, I am not comparing
actual war crimes to perceived racism. What I am comparing is
people's seemingly unquenchable thirst for “sincere” apologies,
which all too frequently does nothing more than to allow people to
hide behind the cover of perennial victimhood.
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4) On Political Correctness
Has
fears over the Ebola virus been blown out of proportion? Even with a
Liberian man who has come to Korea about a week ago having
gone missing somewhere in Busan (assuming that the man is still
even in Korea), a country where there has been a Ebola
virus outbreak, it is likely that the fear of the virus is still
very much greater than the actual threat of the virus.
But
why should any government, university, or pub, or individual for that
matter apologize for trying to ensure that they remain
contagion-free? The fact remains that even if there is little danger
of the virus spreading to Korea, I
don't owe it to anybody to have myself exposed to diseases brought
into this country, potential or otherwise, no matter what problems
exist in other countries or whose feelings might get hurt! In
today's overly politically correct culture, not nearly enough people
seem to be willing to even entertain such a thought.
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5) Racism vs. Ignorance
But
now that we have brought up the topic of racism,
what is racism? It
is the notion of ascribing moral, social, intellectual or political
significance to a man’s genetic lineage. It is one of the most
primitive forms of brutish collectivism.
Does
anyone have any real evidence to make the claim that the owners of JR
Pub are, indeed, racists? Does anyone have unimpeachable evidence
that their intent was malicious? In other words, did they put up
their sign in order to make some kind of statement about the
inferiority/diseased nature/undesirability of Africans? Or was it a
decision made out of innocent ignorance? Racism may be intolerable
but isn't ignorance forgivable?
But
either way, does it matter? If the owners are indeed racists, though
they might not have changed their minds, they will most certainly
think twice about giving voice to their racist thoughts in the
future. If it was a result of ignorance, you can bet that these men,
or at least the one who made his employees put up the sign, will have
certainly learned a very valuable lesson about avoiding anything that
can even be remotely considered to be racist.
And
isn't that what is supposed to matter? On one hand, ignorance is rectified. On the other hand, if they were, indeed, racists, even if we don't respect or
like the way other people think, aren't we supposed to tolerate
others so long as their actions do not lead to the harm of others?
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6) Predetermined Judgments
In
the Asia Pundits article that was quoted earlier, a woman who is a
white African was informed that whereas black Africans could not
enter the establishment, she could. Others, including the woman in
question, were quick to conclude that this was therefore a case of
blatant racism. But does it really refute the claim of ignorance?
Is it possible that those owners and employees of JR Pub were
ignorant enough to have thought that black people were more prone to
suffer from the virus than white people?
I
was neither there nor have I spoken to anyone involved. So I cannot
say one way or the other. But too many people, who were also neither
there nor spoken to the involved parties, seem to have determined
what had happened.
There
are very few epithets that carry as much weight as “racist.”
However, armed with nothing but moral assertions and unimpeachable
political correctness, which would never be given any serious
consideration in any respectable court of law, hundreds, if not
thousands of people who have most likely never even met the owners
have accused them of being racists.
During
the Jim
Crow laws
in the United States, the idea that you can tell who is good and who
is evil by the color of their skin was the law of the land. Since
the laws were abolished, and not just in the United States but
throughout the civilized world, that line of thinking has been
rejected. However, in modern times, as soon as the perceived victims
are black, that mentality comes roaring back. That is because the
mentality has not really been rejected. It has only been put under
new management.
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